Yorick:
After a few minutes, she ca out and left the test on the table. I helped her sit down again, then placed the test in her lap.
"So?" I asked, keeping my eyes away from it. I wanted her to be the one to look at the result.
She looked bored as she checked the test, not as enthusiastic as she had been before. The door swung open, and my body almost jolted.
I did not want my mother to co in because the mont she saw the result, she would have strange reactions.
When my mother arrived and stood beside , Clentine lifted her eyes, looked at her, then looked back at .
"It is negative," she announced.
The mont she said it, I snatched the test and checked it myself. There was only one line. It was negative. My mother placed her hand on my shoulder, and I looked up at her. She gave a reassuring nod.
"Why don’t you go get her so food?" my mother requested.
"Yeah, I will need so food," Clentine replied softly.
I got up from the bed and took my mother’s hand. I was not going to leave her alone with Clentine. It was not safe. My mother could be very difficult to deal with.
Once we walked out of the room, my mother imdiately started talking about the dicine.
"It worked," she replied happily.
"How do you know it did?" I asked her.
I turned and watched her frown at . It was clear she wanted to explain myself.
"How do you know she was pregnant in the first place? What if she was never pregnant at all?" I asked, watching her place food onto a tray for Clentine.
"Put my food there too. I’ll eat with her," I insisted.
She paused for a mont before preparing food for both of us.
"Well, I guess we will never know then. But the good news is that she is not pregnant," my mother replied in a harsher tone.
"You don’t have to put that in her food anymore," I said as I saw my mother reach for the sa bottle she had been using to make her feel numb.
She slowed and looked up at .
"I understand that you are being protective of her, and now that she is focused on you, you want to stay close. But do not forget that she still needs to be monitored so she does not walk out of the room," my mother stated.
I looked away from her.
"You don’t seem very confident in my decisions anymore, Yorick," she pressed, noticing my change in attitude.
"Yes, because she is in love with , like you said. Then why do we need to keep giving her this poison? I don’t want anything else injected into her body. You promised ," I reminded her.
She let out a low sound, then finally agreed.
I grabbed the tray from my mother’s hand, but she did not let it go.
"What is it?" I asked anxiously.
"You know what I was thinking? I think it is ti for her to co out and eat with the rest of us," my mother said, suggesting it in a formal, sweet tone.
That did not sound plausible to . I cleared my throat and gave her a weak smile, as if I did not know what she was talking about.
"She cannot walk properly," I told my mother.
"She only needed your support to go into the bathroom for the test, so I believe she is much better now," my mother replied.
She quickly put on the sa smile she always wore. At that point, I realized she was not going to let this go easily.
I wandered back into Clentine’s room to tell her to prepare for dinner. For so strange reason, she seed eerily calm.
"My mom wants us to have dinner together," I told her.
She was holding a book I had given her earlier because she had been bored. She looked up from the pages and smiled at .
"Okay," she replied softly.
I began to feel a little anxious because of her quietness. Part of worried that she might be too angry with . That was why she was not discussing it or even talking to . Another part of felt hopeful because everything had gone smoothly.
"Listen, I hope you’re not upset about the dicine," I added, watching her look at with a small smile. It was the kind of smile that made it clear she thought I was being silly.
"Yorick, I needed that dicine. I understand," she answered calmly.
As she spoke, I turned toward the door and noticed my mother standing there again, blocking the way.
"Right. Let’s go then. They’re waiting at the dinner table," I remarked, pointing toward my mother.
I held Clentine’s hand as I guided her out of the room. She still seed distant, but I could tell it was not too severe.
Once we were downstairs, my father ca out to join us for dinner. He had been very busy lately because of everything happening with the council mbers and the academy being exposed. As soon as he saw Clentine, he smiled at her.
We sat together like one happy family, but we were not a happy family. We were a family that kept secrets and played dirty gas.
"So, Clentine, how are you feeling here?" my father asked her as my mother served her food.
"I’m feeling much better here," she responded in her usual soft tone.
"How do you feel about knowing that you’ll no longer go to the academy?" my father continued.
"Wait, is it confird? I thought they were planning to find a way to keep the academy from being shut down," she asked him.
They were having a very normal conversation, but the way Clentine spoke and the way they interacted felt unnatural to .
"Well, even if they do, we are not going to send you there," my father told her with a cheeky grin, while my mother nodded at him.
Clentine smiled and looked at , almost too pleased, as if telling how glad she was that they were taking such a stand for her.
"But I would like to ask you, when are you and Yorick getting married?" my father continued.
I almost choked on my food. My mother began rubbing my back while offering water. I had not even cald down yet when Clentine’s response shocked even more.
"Um, since you are our elders, you have to select a date," she replied.
That made spit my water out.
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